Pentagon plans to go green, alt fuel, and conserve fuel

One reason why is what Steve Earle sings about in Home To Houston. It’s about a truck driver in Iraq driving a gas tanker under seriously dangerous conditions.

When I pulled out of Basra they all wished me luck
Just like they always did before
With a bulletproof screen on the hood of my truck
And a Bradley on my back door

And I wound her up and shifted her down
And I offered this prayer to my lord
I said “God, get me back home to Houston alive
And I won’t drive a truck anymore”

It’s early in the mornin’ and I’m rollin’ fast
Haulin’ nine thousand gallons of high test gas
Sergeant on the radio hollerin’ at me
Look out up ahead here come a R.P.G.

The Pentagon quite rightly has decided that energy and fuel conservation saves lives, not just money, and that alt fuels make you less dependent on outside sources.

“When you don’t use as much fuel, not only does it not cost you as much, but it also saves lives and injuries of those people who would have to deliver fuel through hostile territory” says an Assistant Army Secretary.

The biggest solar farm in North America is now at Nellis Air Force base in Nevada. The Air Force also plans to certify all planes for 50/50 synfuel by 2011 and are looking to cut weight in planes.

The air force estimates that removing 100 pounds from its heavy cargo fleet saves one million pounds of fuel per year, and it is now reducing weight with simple measures such as using lighter paint or removing redundant toolboxes.

Tents are now sprayed with hard foam to insulate them better, saving fuel and money.

Hundreds of small companies are expected to benefit from the military’s green energy push, developing everything from alternative fuels to electric vehicles and efficient power generators.

That the Pentagon is pushing cleantech is great news. Advances and discoveries they make will spread into the commercial markets, benefiting us all. Lest we forget it was the Pentagon who paid for the development of ARPANET, which then morphed into a little something called the Internet…